The Leaf?

And the Winner Is...

I ran out in front of Naruto and Idate. What can I say? I've been cooped up in a cave all day. Oh caves they always smell like water, mold, and somehow old people. But I don't like old people, so there for I don't like caves, and therefore I am glad to be out of the cave.

Not only am I glad to be out of the cave, but now I could run as fast as I could because we had to get Idate to the half way point. Hopefully the other runner thought we were too weak to be any threat.

"Ida."Naruto said.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Go and stall, so Idate and I can grab the orb. That way we can let both runners leave at the same time." Naruto instructed. I stopped, and stared at him. "What?"

"That..You actually said something smart." I stated in astonishment.

"You're not the only one." He countered.

"True, true. All right. I'll see you guys there." I laughed, and ran. I ran through trees and on the normal road that was paved. In no time at all, I came upon about a zillon steps going almost staright up.

"Oh God why me?" I asked the sky. "Is this because I thought you spoke to me earlier?" I got no response, so I started up the steps, going five at a time.

At the top I saw Aoi, but luckily he didn't see me. I saw him walk over to this one room where there was this really loud guy. "Don't you think it's a little bit early to be celebrating?" Aoi asked.

"You took care of them didn't you?" The guy Fukusuke asked.

"Of course I did, but the weather is clearing up." Aoi assured. Ha if only he knew.

"Alright then. I could go for a run." Fukusuke sighed, standing up and stretching.

"Wait!" I shouted, running into the room.

"You!" Aio gasped.

"The one and only." I smiled.

"Who's that?" Fukusuke asked.

"I am your conscious. You are having an epiphany. Give up the race, and let the kids win." I demanded in a ghost voice.

Fukusuke looked really scared, and he looked at Aoi, "She's just a little kid, who was helping Idate." he told Fukusuke, "And she's supposed to be dead." He growled at me.

"Maybe I am, and I'm just haunting the world." I countered. Aoi disappeared and reappeared behind me. He grabbed me by my arm, and started dragging me.

"Stranger dander! Stop don't touch me there! This is my no-no square! Ahh ra-" I screamed, which caused him to let me go for a second. Then of course he grabbed me again, and started dragging me.

"She sure is loud." Fukusuke complained.

"Not for long." Aoi growled.

I shook my head, and bit his hand which caused him to pull back, "Is that a threat?" I asked.

"Fukusuke just go." Aoi ordered, "Ida is it?" I nodded my head, "We're going to make your teammates fight to even keep you alive." Aoi sneered.

"Okay. Good luck with that. My teammates would be glad to see me go." I shrugged.

"Really?" He questioned.

"No. I was just trying to see how gullible you were." I smirked.

"Let's go." He growled, and pulled me away. He kept a hold of my arm, and kept pulling me. We didn't go right behind Fukuske, but we kept him in our view.

I could easily break from Aoi, and fight him now. But if Idate had no chance of winning, I would have to keep Fukusuke from crossing the finish line. That was only a last resort though.